When the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) sentenced Radislav Krstic to 35 years' imprisonment on 19 April for complicity in genocide, its appeal court reduced the sentence against the former general of the Bosnian Serb army by 11 years. But the real impact of the judgement was clearly elsewhere. The judges above all confirmed that genocide had indeed occurred in the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica, where in July 1995 between 7000 and 8000 Bosnian Muslims were killed by the Drina corps, commanded by General Krstic.

The governmental commission charged with investigating the Srebrenica massacre has «uncovered 31 previously undiscovered mass graves, based on information provided by institutions in Republika Srpska (RS),» the Bosnian Serb government announced on 4 June, reports AFP. The commission, which was set up in December 2003 in response to international pressure, is expected to publish its final conclusions around mid-June.

The report published by the commission in charge of investigating the massacres committed in Srebrenica in July 1995 has put an end to nearly nine years of denial of responsibility by the Republika Srpska (RS). On 11 June, the RS government, a Serbian entity in Bosnia-Herzegovina, finally admitted that «several thousand Bosnian (Muslims) were liquidated in a manner representing a serious violation of international humanitarian law» in Srebrenica by Bosnian Serb forces, and that «the perpetrators covered up their crimes,» reports the news agency Agence France Presse.

«Over the next three or four months, we intend to file a complaint against the UN and the Netherlands for failing in its mission to protect victims, thus violating international law and the European Convention on Human Rights,» said Semir Guzin, one of the lawyers representing the Association for Srebrenica Survivors, in an interview with AFP. In both trials, the association will be petitioning for damages of around 513 million euros, said the lawyer. The complaint against the Netherlands will be lodged at one of the courts in The Hague, and that against the UN at an American court.

On 31 March, the Republika Srpska (RS) spokesman Cvijeta Kovacevic announced, «A government commission report has identified 892 people and has been handed over to *Bosnian+ prosecutors as well as to the office of the International High Representative *Paddy Ashdown+». Those named are currently working in the administration, and are suspected of involvement in the massacre of nearly 8000 Muslims in Srebrenica (east Bosnia) in July 1995, reports the BBC.

Almost ten years after Bosnian Serb forces massacred nearly eight thousand Bosnians in Srebrenica, their ghosts continue to prick the conscience of the powerful western countries in charge of protecting them under the UN banner. Civil actions have recently been filed in the Netherlands and France to try and gain recognition of collective responsibility and to claim compensation for victims. While one case is being brought against the UN in France, a turning point in the search for collective legal responsibility in the Netherlands has been reached.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) unveiled the indictment against Milorad Trbic, a Bosnian Serb and former deputy commander of the Zvornik brigade on 8 April. Trbic, 47, who is co-accused with Vinko Pandurevic (see IJT 22), was transferred to the court's detention centre on 7 April. The indictment states that, between 11 July and 1 November 1995, Trbic and other men planned or participated in the execution of thousands of Bosnian Muslim men who had been taken prisoner in the Srebrenica security zone.

For the first time on 15 October, Republika Srpska (RS) recognised the scale of massacres committed by Bosnian Serb forces against Muslims in Srebrenica. A report by an investigating commission on Srebrenica reported to the local government that 7000 Muslims were murdered there in July 1995. Back in June, the RS authorities admitted that a massacre had taken place, but did not specify the number of victims.